It doesn't help that the beds really were as comfortable as they promised to be, either. Nicole nearly wanted to skip breakfast and just keep enjoying the bed until it was time to leave! She eventually did head down for breakfast, though, saying that it doesn't often happen on this tour that we get good food for free, so we needed to take advantage of the good breakfasts when we can.
On the way to the breakfast room, we stopped to check out the sauna and heated indoor pool where two of the Aussies were busy swimming. The South African couples had also been swimming the night before. Somehow, Nicole and I had missed the memo that we needed to bring our bikinis along for a European winter tour!
Breakfast was amazing, especially compared to our hotel in Venice. Sadly, we had left the world of great coffee behind us, but we did enjoy the bacon and egg croissants that I've started making whenever all the ingredients are available. I also had a lot of orange juice, since I'm still not well yet, and took some oranges from the buffet to snack on during our morning bus ride to Vienna.
Nicole and I were the first two people on the bus that morning to ensure that we got seats together, at the very least. The seats right in the front are our favourites because they have the best views out the front of the bus' enormous windscreen, so we always snag those seats when we can.
I didn't get much time to blog before Jen started giving us the best overview and history of World War II and Hitler's reign that I've ever heard on our way to the Dachau concentration camp. I actually suggested to her that she should teach history at school because she did a much better job than any of my teachers ever did with her conversational tone.
I won't say too much about the camp itself. It was very a cold, rainy, and miserable day. I seriously can't imagine what it must've been like to stand in the courtyard in that kind of weather in such thin clothing for an hour during role call every day. I mean, I was quite warmly dressed, well-fed, and full of vitamin C, but I was worrying about my little cough. It's remarkable that any of them survived a single winter at all.
Many prisoners helped each other at the risk of their own lives, creating a strong contrast in the camp's history of both the greatest solidarity (between prisoners) and the worst cruelty that humanity is capable of. It was a great feeling to be able to willingly leave the camp afterwards and not need to wait for the Allies to come to our rescue. We had a nice, warm bus waiting to whisk use away, and I was very grateful for that!
As we were driving, it began to snow, which was the coolest thing ever! It's funny to note that while the flakes are gently falling to the ground along the road, the ones that hit the bus' windscreen tend to splat like little icy insects. Soon, the whole top of the windscreen had iced up, and that view we enjoyed before was heavily obstructed. Snow eventually gave way to rain, and we got some amazing views of the snow Austrian Alps in the distance. Bus days may be long, but we certainly get to take in a lot of gorgeous scenery (when not sleeping or blogging :P)
We stopped at a service station that, unfortunately, only had a restaurant. We were forced to sit down if we wanted to eat, and the food was not cheap! I had two bacon wrapped sausages with chips for R200! And the gluhwein we ordered was just a mug of hot wine with a seasoned teabag that we had to stew ourselves! I was not particularly impressed. There was another amazing view, though, so again we imagined that it was what we were paying for. We should've hit the salad bar, like some other savvier members of our tour did, since that was cheaper. Still, they paid R100 for a side plate of salad. Food isn't cheap in Austria!
About two hours from the hotel, I found myself up to date with my blog-writing and suddenly had nothing to do on the bus. I asked Nicole what she does to pass time and her suggestions were to look at the scenery or take a nap. Sleeping on the bus is not comfy, I discovered. Then again, neither are our hotel beds half the time. It also didn't really seem to pass much time. That might be, though, because it started getting really dark quite early. It wasn't even 5pm yet and the full moon was already out pretending to be midnight.
Half an hour later, we were in the lobby of the hotel and I was furiously trying to connect to the wifi before all the Aussies got on and made it impossible for my iPad to find the signal. Before I even knew what our room number was, I'd connected both my iPad and my phone to the free wifi. Instead of uploading photos, though, I chose to make a Skype call back home to remind myself that I'm not missing much, despite the homesickness I'd experienced before. No one seems to be doing anything cool in South Africa without me.
Nicole, meanwhile was trying to decide what to do for New Years Eve. Our options include either paying R1200 each to go on a pub crawl, which is super expensive. The other option is to do our own thing and risk a disappointing New Years. Our group seems to be divided between the two options, so we really need to choose an option for ourselves. I've left the decision up to Nicole, partly because I don't really mind what we do as long as we're together, and partly in case we are disappointed or ripped off and the blame can't be pinned on me. So far, she's told both groups that we'll be joining them, so it's gonna be a surprise for me, apparently.
We hit the streets of Vienna for a walking tour headed by Jen. She showed us the Hapsburg Palace Complex and told us about one of the Empresses Sisi, who was much loved but extraordinarily vain with her migrane-inducing floor-length hair and exercise obsession, and another, Maria Theresien, who had 16 children while progressively reforming the country by establishing a stock exchange and whatnot. Not too bad for her day. She also showed us where Hotel Sacher is, the home of the famous Sacher Torte.
For dinner, Nicole and I headed off with Kaylee and Maria to a local pub where we sampled some seasonal local fare. For Nicole and I, that included game-based ravioli and gnocchi (since apparently we can't have enough of pasta. Maria, who is Serbian (and Australian), enjoyed some traditional lentil goulash, "like mom used to make." Kaylee wasn't feeling well, so she didn't eat anything at all, opting instead just to have some tea that was presented in a very cool looking glass mug. Our food was outstanding, but service was so slow that we eventually needed to get up and walk to the card machine to pay. It wasn't cheap, either, setting us back about another R200 each again.
Afterwards, we headed back down the icy streets of Vienna to where the bus was picking us up. Vienna was the coldest place we have been to so far. Nicole commented that it was warmer than she'd expected, but she forgot to factor in that we were wearing leggings under our pants, so we were dressed warmer than normal. There were puddles on the pavement that had frozen over, making for dangerously slippery walking conditions.
Back at the hotel, Maria wanted to enjoy a nightcap at the bar before bed, which Dave and Jess decided to join us for. Nicole and I kept it mild, with her drinking a ginger beer, and me having a berry juice called something that I read as Johannesburger. It was disgusting. However, if berries did grow in the heart of Joburg's dirty city centre, I imagine thats what they'd taste like.
The bar is kind of trippy, since it is completely surrounded by mirrors. There are even mirrors on the ceiling! Back in our room, which we finally got back to at about midnight, we also had a wall of mirrors extending all the way over the sliding cupboard doors (also mirrored) and into the bathroom as well. This gave us a great view of how much weight we have gained thanks to all the multi-course meals and fast food that we've been eating since we got here. To my horror, I see that I've developed cellulite! I'll be temporarily moving into my gym when I get back to South Africa.
That's a New Year's resolution, right there!
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